WQ - The Greatly Offensive Cave

Every day it seemed that the camp at the edge of the Nayru Canyon grew larger. It took more than a few able-bodied men and dreams to build a bridge, after all. It needed supplies, and organization, and always, always more hands.

Ash had come in with the latest batch of eager recruits. Approaching the place where he'd, ugh, died had been... unnerving. Even if he hadn't actually known that the canyon was the place he'd fought up until now... but that didn't matter. Here amidst the hustle and bustle of the camp, there had to be something he could do to help. Even if it was just carrying more boxes.

In fact, carrying boxes was what he was doing when the whistling started. He flattened his ears and ignored it at first, thinking it was just people being people. Then the whistling was followed up by a rough voice.

"'Hey you! Dogman! Come over here a sec, will ya?"

There was a moment where Ash couldn't help but bristle, some scrap of Caenis pride that took offense to the epithet but... no, why was he doing that? He wasn't even a real Caenis. Nonetheless, there was no hiding the body language signalling discomfort as he approached the squat Faerin man that had called him. "Um. Can I help you...?"

The faerin grinned. "You're one of them adventurer sorts, yeah? Trying to help out and all that? Here, give this a whiff," he said, holding aloft what appeared to be a clump of grey, lacy moss. Ash hesitantly bent down, hoping that this wasn't going to be some kind of fantasy chloroform, and sniffed.

And then recoiled, eyes wide as the scent of something... something horrific filled his nostrils. It was like blood and sulfur and mold, all mixed into one terrifying potpourri. "Oh... oh god, what is that?"

The faerin man apparently had the audacity to start laughing. "Haha, thought so! It's cavefern. Kind of plant that grows on ore veins" He set the moss aside on a crate, where Ash eyed it with distrust. Now that he'd smelled it, he couldn't help but notice that the faerin man reeked of the stuff. "We usually blow the spores into mines, wait for them to grow, and then have the dogs sniff them out. Problem is, none of them want to go into the canyon, on account of all the... dissidence."

Dissonance, Ash corrected mentally as he stiffly replied, "So you want me to... replace your dogs?"

"Well, it's that or keep playing fetch, right? "Way I see it, better off using your unique characteristics to help us out." The faerin turned to the crate, pulling out a jar of thick green paint. "Just paint where the fern grows thickest with this. It'll glow bright enough that we'll see it."

Ash took the jar and brush, and nodded. "...go in, paint some rocks. Got it."

He turned away from the faerin man, and sighed. Well then. Time to figure out where the caves were. And maybe find someone who wanted to... paint smelly rocks with him. This is what he chose to do with his free time, apparently...

@Ueno Mizuki

 

The land really looked different without an impossibly large eldritch abomination dominating it. Granted the canyon and the surroundings were still the biggest mess, not much better than that day Mizuki had made her daring escape from the collapsing corpse of Titanius and ended up flying for the first time before falling on her face and sleeping off the worst of the fight. But at least there weren't any oversized tentacles, things weren't covered in blood, gore and eyeballs, there wasn't any deadly slime trying to kill people... compared to what it used to be the place was essentially paradise. At least now it had a raw and flesh feeling, as if the filth had been burned away and it could finally heal.

It was also interesting that thanks to Titanius this place wasn't actually much better known to the people of this world than the players, the adventurers who had made it possible. Even when Titanius wasn't causing trouble this area had been abandoned because even the resting site of an old god was already enough to make people not get near. After all, they were only now building the bridge crossing the canyon towards whatever lay to the west.

For Mizuki's part, she didn't feel particularly obligated to help since she hadn't put Titanius in there and she had done her damn best to help remove it. However she did feel that if she was going to spend her time in this world she might as well do something productive which would also help out herself in the long run. Exploration was one of the more fun parts of Terrasphere, and the bridge meant more exploration opportunities (granted Mizuki could personally just fly over the gap, but she figured it would be better to wait until other adventurers could join her, given the fact that she didn't know how strong the creatures on the other side would be). So here she was walking amongst the workers, trying to look for opportunities to help even if she was trying to find something a bit more interesting than just lugging things around. She was trying to have fun, after all.

After some searching she ran into an unusually heavy faerin, one who didn't look muck like a lightfooted Fair Folk as instead he just looked like a more down to earth variant. Must be one who was used to living amongst and working together with humans and felis. The little man showed her a piece of moss with a very strong scent on it and explained to her that it was used by miners to find ores, allowing it to spread throughout tunnels where it would grow on the promising spots after which they'd have dogs sniff it out. Except right now the dogs refused to get near to the canyon, so the next best thing was... caenis.

Pinching her nose slightly after that surprisingly aggressive scent Mizuki considered the offer, wondering if this was how she wanted to help out. Well, it would mean she'd be taking advantage of her unique strengths, and an opportunity to improve her ability to move by smell rather than sight was welcome in its own way... She nodded and told the faerin that she'd help, at which point he promptly handed her the jar of green paint that would glow in the dark and told her that she'd be working together with another caenis, at which point Mizuki quickly thanked the man for the jar before heading off, towards where she'd find her companion for the day.

As the first caenis adventurer she was always interested in meeting up with other caenis.

He wasn't too far away, Mizuki raising one hand while calling out to the man as she approached him from behind. He had a tall and impressive figure, as adventurers almost always did because they were sculpted rather than born, but his attire and way of moving made it clear he was not one of the veteran players. A newcomer. Well, Mizuki saw nothing wrong with that, and she smiled as she walked up to him.

Greetings. It seems the two of us shall be working together seeking out ore in the canyon.

She held up the jar to show she had been given the same task as him before continuing.

It's not exactly what I was expecting when I came here to help, but I think it'll be an interesting experience. Also, my name is Ueno Mizuki, nice to meet you.

She held out her hand to the man, holding the jar in the other so she could give him a proper handshake. Of course canines had a different handshake protocol... but even if they were both caenis he'd probably prefer it if she didn't act too inhuman.
@Ash Vargold

 

Ash was standing near one of the paths into the canyon when Mizuki approached - downwind, in his case. Even here he could smell the cavefern - weak, but enough to make him wish he was still playing "fetch". At least he wasn't alone over there (and the thud of his heart was certainly reminding him of that fact-)

Da-da-da, dun-du-

He heard footsteps, and turned to see @Ueno Mizuki approaching. Another person... another Caenis, too. He... hadn't actually seen a lot of them around? Which seemed weird, now that he thought of it. He raised a hand in greeting, noting the equipment and general confidence she walked with - a more veteran player? Certainly not someone carrying around tattered charms and an acid-eaten sword. "Ah, hello. Glad to have the company. I'm Ash Vargold."

He returned Mizuki's handshake with practiced false confidence. "I guess that guy's just grabbing anyone with a good nose. Kind of caught me off guard." If nothing else, the enhanced senses of Caenis as a species was something that kept coming up in weird ways. His brain was still trying to get around how much more important it was as a sense...

"Well then, I guess we should get going," he said, turning towards the path and wrinkling his nose. Approaching was the last thing he wanted to do, but here he was, doing it. "Hey, do you think maybe the dogs aren't going down there because this stuff stinks...?"

 

Mizuki was glad that her companion and partner was a sociable one, somewhat having feared that she might have to deal with one of those players who was rather silent and introverted. While it wasn't a sin to not be good with people it did make cooperation a bit tricky, so this was definitely the preferable alternative.

Well, with two of us we can get more done. Although I was also somewhat surprised a faerin would have me take the part of a dog.

She made a bit of a face at that, unsure if she should have been offended or not. The little man had been cheerful and amiable enough that it was difficult to get angry at him, but she still didn't think it was very polite to call a caenis a dog, just as it was generally considered rude to call a human a monkey.

She nodded as @Ash Vargold suggested that they got going, following the man further down the path into the canyon as she sniffed the air, smelling the faint scent of that strange moss even from here. It was certainly a unique scent, and she hoped she'd be able to get used to it before the day was done because otherwise this task would become a lot more of a pain.

From the way the man talked about it the dogs would usually go, so I think it's just the Dissonance that hasn't completely disappeared yet. Also, I don't think they dislike the smell as much as we do.

She sniffed the air again, shaking her head as she held onto the jar tightly with one hand while using the other to help her descend safely into the canyon, her heterochromatic eyes exploring the area in front of her as she looked wary for something.

The blood certainly wouldn't bother them, at least. But let's try to do this slowly, all right? If the dogs refuse to come here there might still be some small Dissonance remnants around, and I'd rather not get through the entirety of Titanius alive only to get caught off guard by some little blob.

 

Deeper and deeper, darker and darker. Ash was more than happy to take things slow in the canyon, especially if there was the chance of some Titanian pile creeping around. Just the thought of it made him paranoid, his ears twitching at every odd sound. "You were there too? Huh... I wasn't so lucky."

It confirmed that @Ueno Mizuki was a more experienced player than he was. Then again, it didn't take much to be better than a newbie... anyway. Ash pushed the memory to the back of his mind. He could brood about dying later - right now he had the fact that his heart was beating steady, and that cavefern smelled nothing like the ocean.

"If nothing else, this is good for practice," he said, trying to track where the smell was strongest with little success. Why did smells have to... float around like that, or get all mixed up? His brain wasn't made for processing this, VR trickery be damned. "I'm still getting used to this whole... 'non-human' thing. I didn't expect Terrasphere to be able to mess with senses like that."

A breeze smacked Ash right in the nose with an overwhelming whiff of cavefern. It was enough to stagger him for a moment. A quick inspection of the wall revealed a cleft in the stone, just large enough for a person to squeeze through. Air flowed through the cleft - in, out, in, out...

...he didn't know much about caves. But they probably weren't supposed to breathe.

"I uh. Think we might have found the cavefern," he said, dabbing a glowing green arrow on the wall. He... really didn't want to go in there. But they couldn't just send NPCs into a mysterious breathing hole. "And... probably something else. Guess we should scout it out..."

 

I think nearly every adventurer was there, with as only exception those who joined the game too late to participate

It had been one of the most hectic situations that Mizuki had ever been part, significantly worse than any meeting organized by her work or parties held at school. Even without Titanius's ability to affect the mind and leave people uncertain about what was real and what wasn't the sheer pandemonium would already have made survival difficult. Add to that Mizuki's experience in Titanius's core against Titania and... well, she was really lucky she made it through.

Don't worry too much about dying there. Most people did in the end, I was just very lucky. That said, I'd advise you to put your well-being above ideas like fame or riches, because there's been some trouble with people who've died several times being unable to access their UI or log out.

Mizuki frowned as she sniffed the air and made her way forward, following @Ash Vargold far enough into the canyon that the sun began to have a hard time reaching them, shade enveloping them.

Of course being stuck in this world is still better than dying permanently, but better not to take any unnecessary chances.

For herself the wolfwoman didn't think life in TS would be so bad, although at the same time she was aware that the prospect looked a lot more alluring as long as she had a choice, and if she ever lost that choice she'd probably want to get out as quickly as possible.

Sniffing the air some more Mizuki began to home in on the nearest source of cavefern, having mastered her nose quite well due to a lot of trial and error and raw experience. When Ash commented on the difficulty Mizuki looked back at him, pointing at his eyes with two fingers.

Try doing it with your eyes closed. As humans we're too accustomed to mostly relying on our eyes, so as long as you're also looking at things you won't pay as much attention to your nose as you should. With practice it'll be easier to focus on the smell.

Smelling the same breeze filled with the distinctive scent of cavefern as Ash Mizuki let him find the hole between the walls of stone from which it originated, although once he mentioned that it seemed to be breathing she motioned for him to get behind her as she took a step forward, her stance now alert and wary as she flexed her clawed fingers and sniffed the air carefully.

Smells like... blood, bone, Dissonance. Must be some creature that snuck in and ran into a remnant of Titanius.

She gave Ash another look, cautious as she considered what to do before nodding in agreement with him.

We'll have to get rid of it. Stay close to me, but let me take the lead for now. And please be careful.

With that Mizuki entered the breathing cave, sniffing her way through as her heterochromatic eyes glowed in the darkness, scratching one of the walls with her clawed hand to check that the cave itself wasn't alive. That had become a rather cliché story element, that adventurers entered a strange cave only for the cave to be some creature's mouth. Not something she wanted to experience herself.

 

"I wasn't really planning on dying a second time, even before the rumor mill started up." He still wasn't entirely convinced about the rumors, especially the ones about using video games to assassinate people. "I mean, escapism is great and all, but I'm not sure I want to wake up in an isekai nightmare. At least in real life you don't have to worry about your taxes eating you."

He let @Ueno Mizuki take the lead in the cave exploration without protest. "You could smell that past the cavefern?" he asked, one hand along the wall as he tried closing his eyes like Mizuki suggested. Like listening to music, he thought, trying to figure out what sort of subtleties he could catch on the air. If he did the nasal equivalent of a squint, he could imagine he was catching other things - the smell of earth and blood, the complexity of the other Caenis' scent-

THONK.

"AUGH."

Ash recoiled, hissing in pain as he clutched at his forehead. He'd bashed his head into something hanging from above, some stalactite or overhang he'd missed while his eyes were closed. That would've been hilariously cliche if it didn't hurt damn so much. Apparently the pain settings didn't mean much out of combat...

"Freaking... why did I even touch the height slider," he muttered, frustrated. "We're not under attack or anything, I just hit my head on a rock," he added for Mizuki's sake. Didn't need to make things any more stressful than they already were.

After all... the warm, humid sigh that echoed through the cavern in response to the yelp of pain was probably more than enough stress for the both of them. Somewhere deep within, something shifted with an unpleasantly slick sound. "Oh... may have spoke too soon."

 

Yeah, I've also been trying my best to survive from day one, I just wanted to remind you. There's some people who seem to have become overconfident at the thought of being immortal, or maybe they never thought highly of their own life to begin with.

It was good to hear from someone who shared Mizuki's priorities. Hanging out with the likes of Seigi meant she was constantly exposed to people who jumped into the fire the moment they thought getting themselves killed would help others. Although she frowned slightly as @Ash Vargold called the issue of not being to log out a rumour. She looked over her shoulder at him as she slowed down for a moment.

The inability to log out at least is real, since a good friend of mine is having that issue. Although I have to say I've yet to see any taxes in this world... although that might also have to do with me being outside a lot.

Hearing the other caenis's surprise at her being able to smell anything beyond the cavefern Mizuki nodded and kept her eyes forward, more focused on her nose than her eyes as she navigated her way through the cave.

The cavefern isn't that bad once you get used to it. Also I've been spending my time in this world focusing on hunting, so I've had a lot of opportunity to become familiar with my heightened sense of smell.

She didn't really think it that special, since it was a racial trait of all caenis and it wasn't like Ash couldn't do the same himself once he had some more practice. Although when he bumped into something she quickly realized that maybe telling someone to close their eyes and focus on using their nose while walking into a cave wasn't the smartest thing she'd ever done, so she quickly moved back towards him, nodding as he stated that it wasn't an attack, just an unfortunate collision with a piece of the environment.

Sorry, I gave you advice without thinking about how it might backfire. For now let's just focus on dealing with whatever is in here and after that we can do the practising.

Hearing the slick sound as well Mizuki went on alert, peering further into the cave whilst sharpening her ears and widening her nostrils. The scent of distortion and blood was stronger now, and she could hear something slimy move across the stone.

I don't know what masteries you have, but for now just stay behind me.

Placing her hands together Mizuki channelled her magic, once she'd accumulated enough energy slamming her hands against the wall of the cave. While she was more the type to use her magic for buffing and healing herself while fighting she was still a druid, and even if she could fight in the darkness Ash didn't have as much practice as she had.

Through cracks and creases mushrooms began to form on the wall of the cave, glowing faintly but the light becoming stronger until at least their portion of the cave had adequate illumination that they should be able to see... which immediately exposed the head of some large wormlike monster. It could barely be called a head, being more of an open maw filled with serrated teeth which was attached to a long body, glistening with blood and slime with a large amount of tiny limbs moving it forward as it slowly moved towards them, only faltering in its approach once the light hit it.

 

"Well, normally in an MMO it's going to be... what, some experience loss, maybe you lose some gear durability. Unless you're expecting hardcore, there's normally no reason to treat death as more than an inconvenience"

That was how he'd been playing it, at least. Up until the point he'd died, there'd been nothing that suggested he had to worry about the consequences of death any more than other games. Probably a rookie mistake for a novice in full dive VR - the occasional rattle in his chest was proof of that.

Speaking of consequences... "Seriously? That's..." Impossible, he wanted to say, but the Caenis woman before him didn't seem like the sort to be spreading falsehoods. He let the sentence trail off with a soft sigh. "...I guess Terrasphere earned all that negative press."

How much media had a young Aisling consumed covering this exact trope? How much time spent joking with others on how to prepare for such a scenario? Back then it'd just been fun and games, but now? Should he still be... playing this? If it could have consequences that dire, then maybe they'd be better off getting out now-

...ah. Too late.

Ash backed off as the monster appeared in the dim gloom, all gnashing teeth and clutching limbs. He could feel the dissonance emanating from the creature, feel the erratic pulse of it pounding in his chest, pulling him forward as he forced himself to step away. Was that a question? Ash wasn't entirely sure, the sound of his heartbeat nearly drowning out all else. "Swords. Blocking with swords. Uh..."

The creature did not roar - it simply let air hiss from maw as it recovered from the light. But Ash's ears were filled with an unearthly wailing that @Ueno Mizuki couldn't hear. It didn't take long for him to figure out where it was coming from.

"...ghosts. It's a man-eater," Ash growled, drawing his sword and tattered charms. He wasn't a particularly great fighter, especially against something like this. But now that he'd heard the dead, he couldn't shut out the sound, couldn't help but hear the difference between the voices. "...god, I think there's a child in there."

Ash muttered a prayer, one charm burning in his hand. He wasn't going to rush into an attack, but if there were spirits trapped inside, then perhaps he could help them break free. For a moment there was nothing, and then the worm thrashed as if struck, limbs scrabbling at the walls as it charged forward.

 

With such a monster having appeared the time for small talk was over, Mizuki focusing on the threat while listening with one ear towards @Ash Vargold explaining what he could do. Not surprisingly he was also responding to the threat, appearing somewhat nervous and bothered. Mizuki couldn't blame him for that, although things might get dicey if he was overcome with uncertainty and began acting recklessly in an attempt to get away or something. Thankfully he wasn't that far gone, the man showing plenty of spirit as he pulled himself together and told her that the monster had ghosts inside of it.

It must have been eating other people who've been exploring the canyon. If you can still hear them clearly I think they haven't been corrupted by the Dissonance yet, so we can still save them.

Titanius itself had been example of how Dissonance could do more than create warped shapes, as the core of Titanius had been its soul, twisted and reshaped into something made of despair and insanity even as Mizuki and some other adventurers had tried to put an end to it while the rest of the players were busy keeping the physical part from ruining everything. If Ash could still hear the voices of the spirits Mizuki just hoped that meant they could still be saved.

When Ash made the monster lash out in agony (it was real convenient to have a spirit mage around while dealing with a monster that swallowed souls) Mizuki charged forward as well, running straight towards the wormlike abomination. Once the creature was ready to try and ram her and devour her Mizuki dashed to the side, avoiding its head while she reached out with one clawed hand. Running past the creature she dug in deep with her claws, splitting flesh and blood in four deep furrows as she dragged her claw all down the creature's body, at the end pulling it back and jumping deeper into the cave even as the wormmonster made more horribly sounds, twisting itself and then trying to charge Mizuki even as Ash's spell still had the ghosts inside it go crazy, leaving its movements more erratic and wild.

Which was exactly what Mizuki needed, as while the worm was still trying to crawl back over its own body back into the cave to get back to the wolfwoman the caenis charged forward once more, this time jumping to the side and against the wall of the cave, after which she launched herself farther upwards so she was moving towards the ceiling even as the monster's head came closer and closer. Once she was close enough she planted both feet and hands against the stone ceiling, launching herself with all four limbs so she went flying towards the monster's head. Spinning in mid-air she slammed one foot into the top of the creature's head, avoiding the sharp teeth as she instead transferred all the momentum into the kick while simultaneously having boosted her strength with magic.

The resulting force was enough to tear the head open and the body underneath as well as the wormlike Dissonance was smashed into itself. Mizuki grabbed the head and tore it the rest of the way open with her hands even as the body quickly stopped struggling, leaving only a very ugly and very unhealthy corpse for them to take care of. Exhaling the wolfwoman inspected the abomination to make sure it was truly dead before grabbing part of the head, dragging it towards the entrance while looking at Ash.

I'll take care of this, so could you get started on painting the ore? I didn't smell anything else in here so it should be safe now.

 

Most of Ash's energy was focused on... calling? Pulling? Well, whatever he was doing with his muttered prayers and quick gestures was certainly exhausting. But there was no ignoring the fight happening before his eyes, illuminated by the dim light of the mushrooms.

Damn, she's really going to town on that thing...

It was both impressive and terrifying to consider that there was a real person behind that avatar, someone who'd played long enough to be able to do something like this as naturally as breathing. If he'd been half as strong, he might not have died against Titanius. He wouldn't be spending time feeling like dead weight. If I could get that strong...

...but this was just a game. A dangerous one, too. Was it really worth it...?

Ash pushed that thought to the back of his mind as @Ueno Mizuki landed the final blow on the worm. His tenuous tether on the trapped spirits rebounded like a rubber band, causing him to stagger. Now he could see them crowding around him - some of them miners, confused but mostly whole, others the blistering forms of adventurers. Then there were the fading shades that looked like dogs, and... a parrot?

"A parrot. That's what I was hearing...?" His ears and tail drooped. "Seriously..."

Through the general din of confused questions and thankful words, he heard Mizuki task him with painting the cavefern. He nodded, watching as she began to drag the dissonant worm out of the cave. "Uh. Thanks you for the help," he said. "I don't think I would've managed that alone. You're... uh... really cool."

Getting that off his chest was surprisingly difficult, but sometimes things had to be said, right? With that done, turned to the cave hollowed out by the worm. He could see the wiry tendrils of cavefern in the dim glow, growing with a swiftness that made him think of high-speed camera videos. That was... kind of creepy.

"...right. If you guys aren't planning on moving on, give me a hand, alright?" He wrinkled his nose as the smell of cavefern grew stronger as it grew. "God knows I'm going to need it..."

With a sigh, Ash popped the jar open and went to work.

 

Mizuki saw that @Ash Vargold was distracted by something, but she couldn't see what it was... He'd been mentioning ghosts, so apparently killing the abomination did do the trick in freeing the souls of those who'd been captured. Good to know, since when Titanius was killed Mizuki had seen thousands of souls escaping, the only reason a non-spirit mage like her could see her being the sheer amount and the fact that Titanius had already been warping reality a lot just by being a massive heap of Dissonance.

...Wait, a parrot? How would a parrot even... Never mind. Although that's better than a child, so let's just be grateful.

Not exactly nice towards the parrot but you couldn't have everything, and a parrot was definitely better than some child. Dragging the corpse past Ash Mizuki did her best to ensure that the body didn't touch the man, as she didn't think he'd have liked to be covered in slime, blood and gore like she herself was. She'd have to take a long bath afterwards to get rid of it all, but fortunately since this wasn't her first time getting blood all over herself she could bear with it for now.

Thank you. I practise a lot, and compared to what we had to deal with during the fight with Titanius this wasn't much.

She shot the man an appreciative smile, then returned her focus to dragging the abominable worm along. The sooner she got this thing out of the cave the better. Once outside she looked for a spot where she'd be able to dump the body for now, once she found an appropriate spot grunting as she lifted the thing and tossed it, the torn remains landing with a thud. Throwing some of the spores the luminescent mushrooms had released onto the corpse Mizuki poured her energy into them, the fungi rapidly growing to cover the corpse. For now she'd let those things take care of devouring the remains, and once they were done with painting the cavefern she'd burn the mushrooms to make sure every bit of Dissonance was taken care of.

Walking back into the cave she picked up the jar she'd put aside once it became clear that a fight was about to break out, quickly finding Ash once more.

There shouldn't be anything else in here, so let's get this job done. I'm going to need a bath after this...

Compared to what she had to deal with the cavefern didn't even smell that bad, so the female caenis didn't waste any more time as she went about painting the exposed ores. With the light of the mushrooms the moss was easy to find, and thanks to the special paint glowing they also didn't have to worry about accidentally painting any spot twice.